Register to vote here. The deadline is 25 days before Election Day by mail. Same-day in-person registration is available on Election Day. Bring proof of identification the first time you vote. A photo ID is requested every time you vote.[4]

If there is a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, 84,000 people in Idaho (or 5.1% of the population) are estimated to lose coverage, whereas 184,000 people (or 11.1% of the population) will lose coverage with a partial repeal. (Retrieved 1/26/2017 from ACA Repeal Impact, state-by-state) Not covering preexisting conditions will disproportionately affect people with disabilities.

Idaho is among the states that lost the ability to place lifetime limits on coverage, because that practice is banned by the ACA; those limits are likely to be reinstated under a full repeal.[9]

If there is a full repeal, then it is projected that in 2021 Idaho will have 316,000 people uninsured, which is a 67.1% increase over the population that would be uninsured in 2021 without a repeal. (Retrieved from Table A1 at [10])

87% of Idahoans currently receive a federal tax credit under the ACA to help pay their premiums for state health insurance. They would lose this coverage in the event of a full repeal.[11]

Given that a repeal of the ACA would also change payment structures and subsidies, 11,000 jobs could be lost in Idaho. When federal funding is cut, it creates a ripple effect that affects local and state revenue, thus creating losses in economic activity and employment.[12]

In 2015, an average of 83,869 households and 196,872 individuals received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP, formerly called Food Stamps) in a given month in Idaho.[25] In 2011, approximately 14% of the population of Idaho was receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP, formerly called Food Stamps).[26] The average monthly benefit per Idaho household was $273 per household and $116 per person in 2016.[27]

In 2016, an average of 2,801 households, including 1,920 families and 2,738 children, received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which is direct financial assistance, in a given month.[28] The average monthly benefit for a single parent with three children residing in Idaho was $309 in 2014.[29] Average benefits in Idaho have fallen in value by 36.1% since 1996.[30]

In 2016, an average of 9,331 women received funds from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in a given month.[31]

In December 2015, there were 1,815 Social Security recipients in the "aged" category[32] receiving an average of $316.25 per person, for a total of $574,000.[33], which averages out to $316.25 per person

In Idaho, 15.7% of women live in poverty. Single mothers make up 43.4%, while women aged 65 and older make up 10.3%. These figures are above/equal to the national averages, which are 36.5% and 10.3%, respectively.

For every dollar made by men, women are paid $0.74, which is six cents below the national average of $0.80.

African American women are paid $0.79 for every dollar paid to white men, while Latina women make $0.52 for every dollar made by white men. The national averages, are $0.63 and $0.54, respectively.

Religious Freedom laws protect the right of people to practice their religion and limit laws imposing on that right, and were intended to protect religious minorities. [51] A State Religious Freedom Restoration Act was enacted in Idaho in 2000 for that purpose, but it has been recently used to say the rights of individuals or business owners are violated if they are not allowed to deny service to LGBTQ+ people.

Idaho does not have laws protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, adoption, foster care, insurance, or credit. It does have nondiscrimination laws for jury selection, but does not have a nondiscrimination policy for state employees.[52] State legislators will have the opportunity to vote on adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the State's nondiscrimination laws in 2017.[53]

Idaho has passed laws on second-parent adoption and de facto parent recognition for same-sex couples. However, it does not protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in surrogacy and foster care, and lacks laws on parental presumption for same-sex couples. Idaho does not have laws on consent to inseminate, either (meaning that in case of the insemination of one member of a female same-sex couple, the partner not carrying the child is not automatically recognized as parent).[54]

In June 2017, the State Supreme Court denied custody and visitation rights to a lesbian who raised a child with her former partner. The court held that the State's laws do not recognize her as a parent because the couple were not married.[55]

Idaho has passed anti-bullying laws covering cyberbullying, but they do not explicitly mention LGBTQ+ youth. It does not have laws promoting transgender inclusion in sports nor laws requiring school suicide prevention policies or protecting LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy. The state does not have laws addressing LGBTQ+ youth homelessness nor promoting inclusive sex education or juvenile justice policies. Idaho does have school laws criminalizing youth, which tend to disproportionately impact LGBTQT+ students.[57][58]

Idaho does not include LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections in ACA exchanges and does not ban insurance exclusion for trans health care. It excludes transgender health care from state Medicaid and does not provides inclusive health benefits for trans state employees. Idaho does, however, allow gender marker changes on drivers’ licenses (though not on birth certificates) and collects information on LGBTQ+ health. It has passed laws criminalizing sodomy acts, HIV/AIDS criminalization laws,[59][60] and laws prohibiting transgender people from receiving appropriate ID.[61]

HIV criminalization laws are those that make it illegal for an HIV-positive person to “knowingly expose” another person to HIV—in some states, this means that it is illegal not to disclose HIV-positive status to a sex partner, but many laws criminalize behaviors that are unlikely to lead to transmission.[62] Because the laws focus on disclosure, not actual transmission, they serve no real purpose. All states have other, non-HIV-specific laws that can be used to prosecute transmission of HIV, so these laws just needlessly single out and stigmatize HIV-positive people and reinforce the image of them as “dangerous.” It also allows the saliva or blood of an HIV-positive person to be classified in court as a “deadly weapon.”[63] HIV criminalization laws also disproportionately target people of color, mainly African Americans, and gay men.[64]

Idaho is ranked 49th in per-pupil spending as of 2013, with an average expenditure of $4,092 per student.[65]

As of 2013, Idaho ranked 32nd in teacher pay, with teachers earning an average of $49,734 per year.[66]

92% of students in Idaho attend public schools. As is the case in other states, students who attend private schools come from wealthier families, with private school families earning an average 40% higher income.[67]

As of 2014, public charter school enrollment accounted for 6.6% of total public school enrollment.[68]

Idaho's overall graduation rate is 77%, which is below the national average. By subgroups, four-year graduation rates are as follows:

Idaho has Right-to-Work laws, which means that the state can prohibit unions, that collectively bargain on behalf of both members and nonmembers, from requiring union fees for the services they provide to all workers they represent. They are designed to reduce unions' income and power.[74]

Idaho is a state with an at-will exemption.[75] "At-will" means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, or for no reason, without breaking the law.[76] Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences.[77]

Idaho also has a public policy exemption,[78] meaning that an employer may not fire an employee if it would violate the state's public policy doctrine or a state or federal statute, including refusing to perform an act that state law prohibits (e.g., refusing an employer's request to commit perjury at a trial), reporting a violation of the law (e.g., reporting an employer's fraudulent accounting practices or use of child labor), engaging in acts that are in the public interest (e.g., joining the National Guard or performing jury duty) and exercising a statutory right (e.g., filing a claim under the state workers' compensation law).[79]

Idaho does allow for implied contract exemptions.[80]. An implied contract can be created in several different ways: oral assurances by a supervisor; or handbooks, policies or practices as written assurances by the employer. This means that if there is no written contract between the employer and employee, that employee may have an exception of fixed term or even indefinite employment based on an employer's statements.[81] As a general rule, courts disregard language promising long-term, lifetime or permanent employment as aspirational and consider the relationship to be at-will.[82]

Idaho does support the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing.[83] Courts have interpreted this in different ways, from requiring just cause for termination to prohibiting terminations made in bad faith or motivated by malice.[84]

In 2014, the Black and Asian or Pacific Islander populations had the highest air pollution exposure indices—62 (Black) and 57 (Asian or Pacific Islander)—compared to an overall index of 43 and a White index of 42.[87]

In 2012, Native American adults were most likely to have asthma (16.2%), compared to 8.8% overall and 8.9% of the White population.[88]

In March 2017, the DEQ was recommended to receive $2.5 million in Clean Air Act Targeted Airshed grant funds to help improve air quality in southeastern Idaho's Cache Valley. The grant awards would be made upon successful completion of the award application process. Targeted Airshed funds would be used to reduce air pollution from wood stoves, road dust, and motor vehicles in the valley. [91]

As part of EPA’s Environmental Justice 2020 Action Agenda, announced in October 2016, the agency is providing support for the City of Nampa’s clean water efforts to reduce stormwater pollution through public education and outreach to the largely Hispanic and Latino populations that live around Indian Creek. [92]

In May 2016, EPA awarded the Friends of the Teton River a $91,000 grant for the Teton County WaterWise Initiative. The Initiative educates students and adults in Teton County, Idaho, on the importance of maintaining clean drinking water as part of a WaterWise community education program. [93]

Idaho has the 19th-highest percentage of disabled people in America: 13.8% of Idaho’s residents are disabled, compared with the national average of 12.6%. [2015 US Census American Community Survey, Table R1810]

Idahoans with disabilities have the 19th-highest employment rate in the country, at 38.3%, compared to the national average of 34.9%. The overall employment rate in Idaho is 58.6%. [2015 US Census American Community Survey, Table R1811]

Approximately 15.8% of eligible voters in Idaho have one or more disabilities, compared to a national average of 15.71%.[94]

Of adults with disabilities in Idaho, 26.9% live in poverty, as opposed to 13.6% of non-disabled adults. [2015 US Census American Community Survey, Table B23024] The poverty rate for disabled children under 5 is 37.8%, as opposed to 20.9% for non-disabled children.[2015 US Census American Community Survey, Table B18130)

In Idaho, 5.1% of adults between 18 and 64 receive SSI (Supplemental Security Income), compared to the national average of 5.4%. [2015 US Census American Community Survey, Table B19056]